How players have reacted to Apex Legends so far

In the absence of Origin user reviews, we asked what our readers think of Respawn's new FPS.

Origin doesn't do user reviews—which is probably sensible, since every other game would likely be bombed with comments asking why they're not on Steam—but if they did have them for Respawn's Apex Legends, they might actually be pretty positive. While not every response to the game is going to be cheery, it was nice to head onto the game's subreddit today and see upvoted posts saying things like 'We all need to thank Respawn' or highlighting what a good job they've done.

After playing a couple of games this morning, it's amazing how complete it feels at launch. A lot of praise I'm seeing is directed at the lack of online technical problems. People also seem to respond well to the fact that it's launched out of nowhere (barring approximately 500 leaks this past weekend), with little of the relentless hype that tends to follow a blockbuster game from reveal to launch.

Crucially, of course, it's really good. Apex Legends benefits enormously from the infusion of Titanfall-y systems and Respawn's FPS expertise, and the abilities of each Legend offer a high skill ceiling (that I, hiding in cabins while the circle shrinks, will never reach). I hope it has a healthy and interesting future, and the fact that it's free means I won't have trouble convincing my friends to play it. Below, then, I decided to capture some of our readers' reactions to the game, fresh from that source of nuanced conversation we call Twitter. I welcome you to share your own thoughts in the comments below.

To kick off, here's some general positivity, and a perspective that this gives some much-needed life to the battle royale genre:

They have managed to bring the spark back to BR at least for me! You land you seem to have a little time to loot and then you are fighting with 2/3 squads! The game feels fantastic! Non stop action!February 5, 2019

Surprisingly good! Runs smooth, didnt have major server issues, doesnt seem rushed. I was sick of battle royales, but this one might get me back into it. 👍February 5, 2019

I've seen a few people calling for solo or duo play—the former seems unlikely in the game's current form, given how the heroes complement each other. Personally, I wouldn't mind the option to play with four, which might make more sense when there's a bigger roster of Legends to choose from.

It’s very good. Could use duos + 4 player squads. Solos won’t work for character balance reasons, I think.February 5, 2019

There is also some belief that Titanfall 3 died so Apex Legends can live, when it sounds like this is what Respawn chose to make—here's more on that.

Great. UI is easy and quick. Fun, quick and intense gameplay. Bummed about no Titanfall 3, but still enjoying this a lot. It’s fun.February 5, 2019

Exceedingly good with friends and one of the smoothest tripleA launches ive seen in years. No titanfall 3 is heartbreaking though. Its the best BR out right nowFebruary 5, 2019

There's some praise for the fact that an Apex Legends roadmap for its first year was put out on the same day of release, giving everyone a welcome sense of transparency.

For a fan of Titanfall to suddenly hear about and then have a new game in the Titanfall universe within 2 days and see how well the game plays, a roadmap for the year and impending cross-play? Pretty damn cool.February 5, 2019

A few people point out how good the ping system is, which allows easy single-touch communication between teammates on targets and points of interest. This makes playing with strangers pleasantly painless.

I think the Ping system works well for "silent communication" - I was in a game last night where everyone was pinging relevent information and we pretty much worked as a good squad with no one talking.February 5, 2019

The unique mechanics alone make it stand out from the rest, The ping system that tells other players about items and enemies is ideal especially for folk who are microphone shy or can't use one, the character system is great. The gunplay feels as good if not better than black opsFebruary 5, 2019

There have been no pervasive launch problems for Apex Legends so far, which might be considered refreshing.

This is how you launch a BR game unlike 99.99% of them all broken and buggy at launch this game feels silky smoothFebruary 5, 2019

There's some love for the Legends themselves, and how they're brought to life with bits of dialogue—a very Overwatch-y touch. Are some abilities overpowered right now? No doubt there's a lot of tweaking to be done on this side of things after launch for Respawn.

Feels fun, though for me the abilities feel a little OP for some characters and sometimes it becomes a mess and I don't even know whats happening. (First time effect I guess) but I really liked all the quality of life details it has, like the voice acting for every action.February 5, 2019

I feel like I should put some pessimism here just to balance this out. Warning: contains a swear.

When I heard about Titanfall Battle Royale - I thought about 100 or more Mechs BR on a large scale map with a lot of firepower, destruction, and fun.Not a fucking black ops 4 lazy twin.February 4, 2019

Finally, in a disgusting display of self-promotion, here's my praise for Apex Legends' biggest win of all: that it's not too hungry for hard-drive space.

I automatically consider Apex Legends a GOTY frontrunner, because it's a blockbuster game in 2019 that only demands 20GB of hard-drive space.February 5, 2019